An Analysis of the spatial forms of Sri Lankan urban areas with 'space syntax' for planning purposes

Abstract

One of the main limitations often noted in contemporary urban planning and urban design literature, and therefore in the practice, is the understanding that the urban areas, be them large cities or small towns, are static entities which can be planned towards specific end states. Although this rather conventional understanding of cities as ‘products’ was contested from time to time, only limited attempts have been made so far to study and conceptualize the evolutionary process of cities by employing comprehensive methods. In this background, this research intended to study urban areas in Sri Lanka with an emerging space modeling method: Space Syntax. The key proposition of the method is that the unequal configuration of public spaces (mainly the streets and access ways) decides their level of connectivity and thus, their level of integration into the overall spatial structure of an urban area (Hillier, 1996). Further, the levels of integration invest varying capacities into those spaces to attract people and competitive urban activities that are mutually reinforcing the presence of each other. Based on this premise, this study examines the spatial configuration and the resulting activity patterns in the urban areas of Sri Lanka. The applications will be done on existing urban structure as well as at different stages of their growth.